Swansea sinks Euro champ

Henry Winter

SWANSEA City beat the champion of Europe, playing with all the defensive resilience and cutting edge that Chelsea lacked. ''Que sera, sera, we're going to Wembley,'' its fans sang as their Chelsea counterparts turned loudly and abusively on interim boss Rafa Benitez.

The damage in the first leg of the Capitol One League Cup semi-final was done by Michu and Danny Graham, who took their goals well, exploiting mistakes by Branislav Ivanovic in particular. Chelsea was toothless and Fernando Torres managed only 19 touches before making way for Demba Ba late on.

The contrast between Michu and Torres was painful for Chelsea fans to behold. If the name of Michu was on everyone's lips at half-time, a former Swansea player occupied Chelsea fans' minds before kick-off.

Frank Lampard, who spent a season on loan at Swansea in the mid-1990s, was on the bench, causing unease among the home faithful. They missed his finishing skills in a first half of many passes without a cutting edge.